Need Seattle vacation advice

I seem to remember there was a listee or 2 in the Seattle area who may be able to help me with a few questions. Tentatively we are coming out in the middle of July for a couple of days then renting a car driving down to Portland and then out to Boise to see my sister. I was out there when I was about 5 or 6 and we went to the Space Needle (all I remember about Seattle) then headed over to Victoria by ferry, did the aquarium, a museum and the Butchart (sp?) Gardens and that is all I remember of our trip 45 +/- yrs ago. So if you only had 2 days in the Seattle area what would you recommend seeing and is there anything that is promoted heavily but not worth the time/effort? We will have my 6yr old son and possibly my 85 yr old mom with us. We will likely rent a wheelchair for her. We are going to try and arrange it where we have at least a day before my mom arrives to do anything strenuous or too much of a hassle to fool with in a wheel chair so don't base any advice on her limitations. We definitely want to take my son up in the Space Needle and we are contemplating whale watching and/or an aquarium. Other than that, all options are open. Any advice on Portland is welcome too. Sailing content - if anyone wants to give us a ride to Victoria we're good crew ;-) Thanks in advance - Paul West Adventure Kwest Cal 39

Paul, With 2 days, I would think that there are several things I would recommend. The Space Needle has quite the view. As a native, I must confess that I have not been to the top since back when they built the thing. If you do that at Seattle Center, you are near the Experience Music Project (great if you are into music, but would eat a lot of time if you only have two days). Take the Monorail from Seattle Center to downtown and visit Pike Place Market (you probably want to do this on the day without your mother as there is some hiking up and down hills. Definitely visit Pike Place Fish (the fish market with a giant crowd in front of it) while there and get your picture taken with a salmon. Seattle Aquarium is on the waterfront. Not far from Pike Place, but a hike down the hill. Lots of other things to see in that area and you will go where your interest takes you. Other things to do while in the area: (1) drive up to Mt Rainier, our local snow covered volcano. Gorgeous views if the weather permits. A side trip to NW Trek, with exhibits of local animals, would please the 6 year old. You could do this trip with your mother as well. You can see a lot of Mt Rainier National Park from the car and could push a wheelchair through NW Trek. (2) Take a ferry ride. Make a day trip to the Olympic Peninsula. Visit Poulsbo ( Scandinavian fishing village) and then head on up to Port Townsend with cute shopping establishments for the women and the best boat gawking in the NW for you (in fact you may have a hard time leaving). For food, I like to take visitors to Ivar's Longhouse on Lake Union (in Seattle) where they serve alder grilled salmon in a nice environment that affords more boat watching for you (obligatory sailing content). In Portland, I always visit Powell's Books, which covers a couple of city blocks, but that may or not be your interest. There are lots of great places to eat in either city. Consult Yelp or Trip Advisor. And if you are here on a Wednesday evening, and we are not off cruising, come do one of our little local beer can races with us in Tacoma. I do not guarantee wind (right Randy?), but worst case scenario, we are out on the water on a summer evening. Terry Cal 29 Capriccio Tacoma On Jan 11, 2014, at 6:47 PM, pw… [at] aol.com wrote: > > I seem to remember there was a listee or 2 in the Seattle area who may be able to help me with a few questions. Tentatively we are coming out in the middle of July for a couple of days then renting a car driving down to Portland and then out to Boise to see my sister. > > I was out there when I was about 5 or 6 and we went to the Space Needle (all I remember about Seattle) then headed over to Victoria by ferry, did the aquarium, a museum and the Butchart (sp?) Gardens and that is all I remember of our trip 45 +/- yrs ago. > > So if you only had 2 days in the Seattle area what would you recommend seeing and is there anything that is promoted heavily but not worth the time/effort? We will have my 6yr old son and possibly my 85 yr old mom with us. We will likely rent a wheelchair for her. > > We are going to try and arrange it where we have at least a day before my mom arrives to do anything strenuous or too much of a hassle to fool with in a wheel chair so don't base any advice on her limitations. > > We definitely want to take my son up in the Space Needle and we are contemplating whale watching and/or an aquarium. Other than that, all options are open. Any advice on Portland is welcome too. > > Sailing content - if anyone wants to give us a ride to Victoria we're good crew ;-) > > Thanks in advance - > > Paul West > Adventure Kwest > Cal 39 > >

1. Space needle is fun but expensive for a OK meal 2. Do take a ferry ride (walk-ons always get aboard – cars may have to wait an hour at rush hours) You see the landscape entirely different from a ferry. 3. Do see the Chittenden Locks (Ballard Locks) which control the water from Lake Union to Puget Sound. While there visit the fish ladder on the south side of the locks. 4. In my onion Pikes Place Market is very overrated. It has few fish markets left and looks very tired (as of 2 years ago). 5. The aquarium downtown (near one of the many ferry docks) is not world class but OK. If I had young kids I might rather take the Seattle Zoo—north of downtown. 6. There is a new Ferris wheel downtown which I have not ridden. 7. Tacoma (1 hours south of Seattle) has two world class museums: 1. Tacoma museum of glass (Chihuly glass) 2. Lemay Auto Museum (500 car gallery!) plus a 3rd and 4th museum; Washington State History Museum and Tacoma Art Museum. The last 2 are very good also but not as unique. Tacoma is kind of the stepchild to Seattle, and the city has gone all out to entice tourists with these museums. 8., The Seattle Center (maybe 1 mile from downtown) has good seasonal displays, an Imax theater, and a small Chihuly Glass display.

Thanks everyone for the vacation advice. We'll look into everything and go from there. Wish we could stay longer! Paul From: thudbranch <th… [at] hotmail.com> To: Cal_Boats <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> Sent: Mon, Jan 13, 2014 10:05 pm Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] Need Seattle vacation advice 1. Space needle is funbut expensive for a OK meal 2. Do take a ferryride (walk-ons always get aboard – cars may have to wait an hour at rush hours) You see the landscape entirely differentfrom a ferry. 3. Do see theChittenden Locks (Ballard Locks) which control the water from Lake Union toPuget Sound. While there visit the fishladder on the south side of the locks. 4. In my onion Pikes PlaceMarket is very overrated. It has fewfish markets left and looks very tired (as of 2 years ago). 5. The aquariumdowntown (near one of the many ferry docks) is not world class but OK. If I had young kids I might rather take theSeattle Zoo—north of downtown. 6. There is a new Ferriswheel downtown which I have not ridden. 7. Tacoma (1 hourssouth of Seattle) has two world class museums: 1. Tacoma museum of glass (Chihuly glass) 2. Lemay Auto Museum (500 car gallery!) plus a 3rd and 4th museum; Washington State History Museum and Tacoma Art Museum. The last 2 arevery good also but not as unique. Tacomais kind of the stepchild to Seattle, and the city has gone all out to enticetourists with these museums. 8., The SeattleCenter (maybe 1 mile from downtown) has good seasonal displays, an Imax theater,and a small Chihuly Glass display.

Hi, Paul. Did you check with our list mate (no contact in a while) Timm Lessley. He now owns: Danish Marine 152 NE Tomahawk Island Dr Portland, OR 97217 Hayden Island Ti… [at] DanishMarineCo.com (503) 289-1436 O (503) 863-4019 C (503) 289-8615 F Have a good trip. Cheers Charlie From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of pw… [at] aol.com Sent: Tuesday, January 14, 2014 9:32 AM To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Subject: [External] Re: [Cal_Boats] Need Seattle vacation advice Thanks everyone for the vacation advice. We'll look into everything and go from there. Wish we could stay longer! Paul From: thudbranch <th… [at] hotmail.com> To: Cal_Boats <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> Sent: Mon, Jan 13, 2014 10:05 pm Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] Need Seattle vacation advice 1. Space needle is fun but expensive for a OK meal 2. Do take a ferry ride (walk-ons always get aboard – cars may have to wait an hour at rush hours) You see the landscape entirely different from a ferry. 3. Do see the Chittenden Locks (Ballard Locks) which control the water from Lake Union to Puget Sound. While there visit the fish ladder on the south side of the locks. 4. In my onion Pikes Place Market is very overrated. It has few fish markets left and looks very tired (as of 2 years ago). 5. The aquarium downtown (near one of the many ferry docks) is not world class but OK. If I had young kids I might rather take the Seattle Zoo—north of downtown. 6. There is a new Ferris wheel downtown which I have not ridden. 7. Tacoma (1 hours south of Seattle) has two world class museums: 1. Tacoma museum of glass (Chihuly glass) 2. Lemay Auto Museum (500 car gallery!) plus a 3rd and 4th museum; Washington State History Museum and Tacoma Art Museum. The last 2 are very good also but not as unique. Tacoma is kind of the stepchild to Seattle, and the city has gone all out to entice tourists with these museums. 8., The Seattle Center (maybe 1 mile from downtown) has good seasonal displays, an Imax theater, and a small Chihuly Glass display.